Trump family ups measures to resolve potential controversies; to dissolve charitable foundation

Washington [USA], Dec. 25 (ANI): Donald Trump and his family are speeding up efforts to resolve potential controversies - as the U.S. President-elect announced that he will shut down his charitable foundation, a response to repeated controversies over how it collected and disbursed funds. In a statement on Saturday, Trump offered no timeline as to when his foundation would close down, but said he had directed his attorney to take the needed steps, reports the Washington Post. "The Foundation has done enormous good works over the years in contributing millions of dollars to countless worthy groups, including supporting veterans, law enforcement officers and children. However, to avoid even the appearance of any conflict with my role as President I have decided to continue to pursue my strong interest in philanthropy in other ways," Trump said in the statement. The Trump Foundation has come under intense scrutiny this year after a series of reports detailing its practices, including cases in which Trump apparently used the charity's money to settle lawsuits involving his for-profit businesses. New York's attorney general has been investigating the charity after some of these reports, and a spokeswoman for that office said the foundation could not officially shut down until that probe is over. Other efforts by the Trump family to resolve potential controversies include terminating development deals, reports the New York Times. Trump, as part of his bid for the White House, released information about his financial holdings, which include more than a dozen hotels and golf courses; commercial real estate space, including Trump Tower and 40 Wall Street in New York; and marketing deals in the United States and abroad. After winning the election, he announced that to eliminate all ethical concerns, he will turn the management of his company over to his children. However, even with these steps, Trump will enter the White House with a maze of financial holdings unlike those of any other president in American history. Many ethics experts still say the only way Trump can eliminate his most serious conflicts is to liquidate his company, and then put the money into a blind trust - a move the President-elect has so far rejected as impractical and unreasonable. Also, because Trump refuses to release his tax returns, the extent of his potential conflicts remains unknown. Among other measures, both the Trump Organization and the Ivanka Trump brand are exploring options for an outside monitor to help oversee operations, block inappropriate contacts between the companies and the federal government, and provide independent voices for management decisions, executives involved in the efforts said. The Trump Organisation, in some cases citing deficiencies in the work performed by some of its foreign partners or other clauses in contracts with them, is terminating pending or nearly completed hotels and apartment buildings in Brazil, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Argentina. Also, a labour dispute with hundreds of workers at the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas was suddenly settled on Wednesday, with the hotel agreeing to provide pensions, health insurance, annual wage increases and other benefits that it previously refused to offer.(ANI)